Lightening Online

Back in March we had some promising rains.  Everyone was feeling positive about the “start” to the season.  Early rains are a great way to build up sub-soil moisture.

Unfortunately, a “good start” is not much good if the rain doesn’t continue to fall.

And it hasn’t. 

Usually by this time of year, we are flat out putting seed in the ground.

Where we live is a frost-prone area so our window for getting seed in and germinated isn’t huge.  You have to balance things out so that the plant is a at a certain stage when the frosts come.  Not too far advanced that seed development is compromised.  But up and out of the ground so that the early stages are not inhibited by frost.

Our “optimum” time is NOW.  Mid-May.

Obviously it takes too long to plant the seed that ALL of it can be planted mid-May so the weeks surrounding are considered our best option when it comes to planting (sowing) our seed.

Basically May is our “optimum month”.

And we’re still waiting for rain.

Last night we realised we’re even getting low on water for the house.

Just when we thought we’d have a year where that wouldn’t be a problem.

So, once again we’re waiting upon the rain.

And things are getting kind of desperate.

Here’s hoping it gets here soon!

Today marked the start of this season of tractor driving.

Actually, I really started yesterday but I needed Farmboy’s help to remind me how to drive the tractor.

So, today was my first solo stint for the year.

I still like it.

A little bit too much I think.

It’s so peaceful sitting out there on the tractor.

Nothing to really complicate things (well, none so far anyway).

Then the kids came home from school.  I could hear them fighting all the way up the drive.  *sigh*

That made me long to be out on the tractor again.

Think Farmboy would like to swap and knock off when the kids are due home while I stay on the tractor?

Unlikely.

Oh, and don’t tell anyone this but I even took care of certain bathroom needs out in the paddock in a manner unbefitting a “lady”.  LOL.

You can call me FarmGirl now.

Might have to rename my blog!

I realised in my last post about my Nanowrimo Novel, I didn’t really tell you anything about what it’s about.

Basically, I tried to use the tried and true method of “write what you know”.

The story is fiction but there are snippets of my own experiences woven into the tale.

It’s pretty much a “feel good” type story about a “city chick” that heads to the country to help out the “country cousins”.  It shows farming and country living through the eyes of someone who is totally out of their “comfort zone” to even be there.

I’ve just posted Chapter Two which includes a reference to Frogdancer’s “hat with corks hanging from it”. 

Some time ago (sadly, years ago as it turns out) I participated in Nanowrimo.  For those not familiar with Nanowrimo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month.  The idea is that participants churn out a 50,000 word (or longer) novel during the month of November.  I did it a couple of years in a row and haven’t participated since.

At the time of my last participation, some of my readers asked if I was going to publish the novel I wrote somewhere online.  I thought it sounded like a nice idea.  I just wanted to edit it a little first.

Hmmmm…..

Still haven’t edited it.  I’ve given up on that idea.  So, bravely or stupidly, I have started a Fiction Blog where I am planning on publishing the novel, one chapter at a time.  Who knows, I might even do a bit of editing as I go (or not, we’ll see).

Here’s a little taster:

Tiny droplets of water trickled down the window. As the sun tentatively broke through the clouds, it lit up the droplets like sparkling diamonds. The weather seemed to do strange things lately. It was hard to know from one day to the next what to expect. Showers of rain during November were unheard of once upon a time. Now it seemed best to expect the unexpected.

Kaitlyn stretched out her legs in an effort to make herself more comfortable. It had only been 5 hours and yet she felt like she had been on this bus for a lifetime. Outside the scenery remained unchanged. Small scrub-like bushes with a slight blue tinge to them dotted the landscape for as far as she could see. How anyone would choose to live in such a barren place was beyond her.

If you want to read the rest of the chapter, you can do so at Comfort Zone Fiction.

WARNING: No guarantees the content will be interesting or display any semblence of correct grammar etc.  Read at your own risk. 

If you read it and think it’s something your own blog readers would enjoy, I would dearly love a link from your blog (via blogroll or whatever) to help the google rankings a little.  Ta.

This week’s mission is clear.

Murder as many little green things with purple or white flowers as possible!!!

I even have a spray gun that feels something like a gun (not that I’ve ever actually handled a gun) as I shoot at these blasted weeds!

AND…

The dye in my mix is HOT PINK!!!!

So I am flat out spraying the paddock “Lightening colour”. 

You can see where I’ve been by the hot pink patches all over the paddock.

Time is short and the weeds are winning the fight.

So this week, I’m spending as many hours as I can possibly manage, killing as many weeds as I can possibly manage.

Wish there was a “non chemical” way to deal with them.  But for now, this is the only way we have.

When I close my eyes at night, this is what I see:

I stare at them for hours on end and then when I close my eyes, I can still see them!

I’m the kind of person who likes to plan.

And I like my plans to go to plan!

Which makes me a shocking candidate for farming.

Because nothing on the farm goes to PLAN!

Or so it would seem.

Working around weather conditions, break-downs and unco-operative sheep is enough to put a girl in a REAL bad mood!!!!

This week seems to have been tough.

I tried to help Farmboy with some drafting (the way we sort a mob of sheep into 2 different lots) and got my finger kicked by a sheep. Then my feet were stomped all over.  That was one stubborn mob of sheep.

Then while out spot-spraying weeds, my wand fell apart.  I tried to fix it numerous times but it just wouldn’t stay together.  My plan to get X hours done that day fell in a heap.

Oh well.

Farmboy has now bought me a new wand (and so far it hasn’t fallen apart) and the sheep are off to market in the next few days.

I don’t mind helping out around the farm when things go well.

But I HATE it when things don’t go so well.

And that seems to be altogether too often for my liking!

I honestly don’t get how people do this full time.  It’s SO frustrating!!!!

And yet, somehow I suspect I’ll try to do it all again next week!

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I’m looking forward to today being a “normal” day.

No idea why my brain is processing it as “normal”.

No idea what “normal” even looks like.

BUT…

Life has been of a rather hectic nature since Christmas before Christmas we got back from our “big trip”.

Hang on a minute.  Maybe “hectic” is “normal”????

Oh, I don’t know.

Anyway…

Plans for today include drafting sheep, spot-spraying…

Hang on a minute…

Since when did farming become “normal”????

*sigh*

Oh, I’m also planning to do some washing, sort through some of Singstar Princesses room (a never ending part of “normal” in this household) and whatever else I manage to fit in.

Yesterday we had Farmboys sister and kids here.

The day before we went into town to celebrate Singstar Princesses birthday with Farmboy’s family.

The weekend was hot and filled with stuff like recovering from a couple of insanely busy weeks, unpacking, catching up on washing etc etc etc.

So, yeah, today is kind of “normal”.

It feels nice.

I’m not sure if I ever got around to revealling what my “new toy” was that I posted about a while back (you remember the one Trailer Boy took photo’s of that weren’t real clear?).

Anyway, here it is:

I kind of need to use the phrase “my toy” rather loosely for 2 reasons:

1.  It’s not really “mine” - I have to share it with Farmboy.  Although he did finally decide to buy it with me in mind.

2.  It’s not really meant to be a “toy” - but it does make work fun! 

And the new job?

Helping Farmboy get the spot-spraying done.

Which seems like a strange job for someone so anti the use of chemicals.  *sigh*

BUT, it’s lots of fun burning around the paddock on the 4-wheeler.

I even did a couple of mono’s (accidentally mind you!!!).  LOL.

And I need to remember to put sunscreen on the backs of my hands.  I currently have what looks like red fingerless gloves.  The tops of my fingers were protected because of the way they wrap around the handle bars.  ROFLOL.  You live and learn.

Some of you already know the story of the day Farmboy and I met and how, in an innocent conversation, I informed him that I had no intention of marrying a farmer.  I have no idea what possessed me to share that with him but out it came in the course of conversation.  In fact, until that comment came out of my mouth, I didn’t even know I felt that way.  I guess I’d never met a “real” farmer before so there had been no reason to even consider how I felt about the whole issue.

He then proceeded to politely ask me why and to try and refute all my objections to being a farmers wife.

It’s one of those moments you might come across in a story where the author puts in an “if only they’d known” type comment. 

I can honestly say that neither of us had marriage to one another in mind at that moment.  After all, we’d only met just minutes before.  Our common link was Farmboys youngest brother.

Despite my intentions, we did indeed fall in love and I had to reconsider my intention to never marry a farmer.

It wasn’t an easy time in my life and involved a lot of tears and anguish.  Who’d have though falling in love could be so complicated????

I’d like to say that all of my fears were unfounded and that I took to farming life like a duck to water.  As it turns out, my fears were only the tip of the iceberg.  I had no idea about things like working hours and struggles to work with family.  arrgggh….

My biggest fears were based on media portrayal of farming life.  Lack of basic services, isolation and of course, the horrible media portrayal of the anguish farmers went through in the 80s when banks forced some of them from their land.

There have been numerous times over the years that I’ve wished I had stuck to my gut instinct to stay right away from farming.  I’ve never regretted marrying the man that Farmboy is.  His profession on the other hand….

To his credit, Farmboy has never thrust things upon me the way some husbands do their wives.  He doesn’t complain about my fuel usage if I go somewhere the way his father did to his mother.  He does occasionally ask for my help with different things but generally only as a last resort rather than a first resort like some other farmers.  He’s never made me feel inadequate about my lack of farming knowledge (not that that has stopped me from feeling inadequate).

We even did the whole “move to the farm” thing gradually, living in town for 4 years before venturing out onto the farm.

Many of you will be aware that farming has been going through some pretty tough times over the past years.  At the end of last year, Farmboys brother left the farm.  This was due to a combination of factors.

I have to admit, I was a little bit jealous.  How come he gets to go and we have to stay and continue to struggle?  Not just financially but emotionally.

At the end of the day, it’s our decision to stay.

I have to admit though, I’ve been harbouring a secret hope that while we’re away, something might come up that would cause us not to come back.  Or only to come back temporarily to sort things out before relocating up north somewhere.

Well, all that changed in the past week.

Why?

I tried tractor driving.

And I REALLY like it.

Really, REALLY like it!!!!

Who’d have thought.

Darn you tractor, now I WANT to come back from our trip.

It’s a conspiracy, I tell you!!!!

I guess I’m going to have to add this to my “101 Things I Thought I’d Never Do” list.

Our old Ford Tractor with the post hole driver on the back.  Farmboy actually has a sideline business putting in posts and sometimes erecting whole fences.  It has been an absolute god-send through the drought years and in more recent times, the money he has earnt fencing has been earmarked for our “big trip”.

Oh yeah, and that’s me standing next to it, pretending like I know what I’m doing. 

Here we are against the new fence.  The kids helped roll the cyclone out with the help of their quad bike.  Such hardship when you have to ride a motorbike isn’t it???? :)  Lleyton then stayed behind and rode along carrying the staples while Farmboy banged them into the posts.  I tried but it was going to take me all day to get 1 staple in!!!!

I’m not sure how well you can see it but this shot shows the old fenceline.  It was pretty much made up of iron droppers with the occasional concrete posts.  Parts of this one were completely fallen over, making it pretty useless for keeping sheep in or out.

And this shot shows a little bit of the new fence line with the wooden posts.  It should be a lot more sturdy now and will hopefully last 50 years or so.  I didn’t quite get a matching shot of the above with the new fence.

I’m writing this in Windows Live Writer as I’m having trouble loading photograph’s direct to the blog at the moment.  I’m not sure what size these images are going to end up being when this gets published – hopefully not too small.  Let’s see…